


Nature Versus Nurture

by My_Alter_Ego



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Short Story About Birthdays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27432550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Alter_Ego/pseuds/My_Alter_Ego
Summary: Peter tries to get a read on his CI and how he became the man that he is today.
Relationships: Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	Nature Versus Nurture

Neal watched all the good natured ribbing and backslapping going on in the bullpen. One of the agents had reached a milestone birthday—his 50th.

“It’s hard to imagine celebrating the fact that a half century of your life has gone by,” Neal murmured to Peter, who was standing on the balcony watching the camaraderie with a smile on his face.

Peter shrugged. “Don’t you think it’s a good thing for a person to celebrate that they’ve managed to come this far in life, Neal? Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t make it to that point for whatever reason.”

Now it was Neal who shrugged indifferently, which caused Peter to probe his CI’s aloof demeanor regarding the occasion. “How many candles should we put on your cake when it’s your next birthday?”

“You know how old I am, Peter,” Neal answered his handler with a bit of an attitude.

“I know how old we think you are, but both you and I know that what the FBI managed to finally ferret out as documentation is probably bogus, just like the arbitrary birthdate. Tell me I’m wrong.”

“Why are we even having this discussion?” a stubborn Neal asked sharply, effectively avoiding a direct answer.

But Peter just couldn’t leave it alone. “C’mon, Buddy, how many birthday parties were there during your early days? Did you have balloons and cake and ice cream at your house, or was it a theme party at a petting zoo or a bowling alley? Paint me a picture of a skinny, awkward kid tearing into presents that held Legos or maybe a Buzz Lightyear action figure.”

“You really don’t know anything about my past, Peter, and I intend to keep it that way. You’re only entitled to the here and now, so stop with all the heavy-handed probing,” Neal quickly responded as he began walking away.

Peter watched as his partner suddenly morphed into someone else as he descended the stairs and joined the crowd surrounding the birthday boy. In the blink of an eye, the patented Caffrey smile was in place once again. Maybe Peter didn’t know Neal’s real birthdate or how old he was, but what he suspected was that there had been a less than normal childhood. Maybe there hadn’t been any celebrations at all to mark another year in a young boy’s life, and that was beyond sad to contemplate. It made a caring federal agent begin to ponder that old debate of what is most crucial in making us who we are. Was it nature or nurture? Maybe in Neal’s case, Peter would never know. 


End file.
